Picnics & Fireworks

As we prepare to celebrate our nation's 233rd birthday, the week is politics is still fresh in our mind. So with July Fourth as the backdrop, here's a look at recent players whose weekends will be filled with either picnics (good) or fireworks (bad):

-- Picnics: Life's a bowl of cherries these days for pols whose fortunes have brightened. Corzine's poll numbers are improving (slightly) and Pres. Obama's coming up 7/16. Franken's win buoys Reid, but also enhances the influence of moderate Dems like Nelson, Pryor and Landrieu. Calming fears of a bruising MO SEN primary, Blunt gets NRSC backing.

-- Fireworks: This weekend could be explosive for others. Bauer doesn't know whether he'll be finishing out Sanford's term or running to succeed him. Inouye grapples with a rare whiff of scandal. Palin realizes life's just not (Vanity) Fair. M. Conyers worries, a lot, about jail time. A judge refuses to toss a civil suit filed by Gibbons' (least) favorite cocktail waitress. As Sestak jumps into PA SEN, CW questions whether Specter actually could lose this thing. Meanwhile, as Maloney launches her NY SEN bid, a coalition of Gillibrand (and Maloney) supporters urge her to back off.